Cleaning compositions comprising detergent surfactants are well-known in many fields of application, for instance for hard surface cleaning, dishwashing, laundry washing, skin care, scalp and hair care, oral care. Most surfactant compositions have a tendency to foam, in particular once they are diluted upon application. In many such applications, especially where consumers prepares suds or lathers from the cleaning composition themselves, such foaming is perceived as a sign of detergency. Often it is even perceived as a prerequisite for detergency. Therefore, good foam formation is a very desirable characteristic for many cleaning compositions. It is especially desirable that the foamy or frothy layer, once formed, does not disappear readily but remains in place for the consumer to be observed. However, optimising a formulation to provide such optimal foaming may negatively affect other characteristics. In particular, a well-known way to enhance foaming is by using a larger quantity of surfactant present in a formulation. From a sustainability point of view, this is very undesirable. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an alternative way of enhancing the stability of the foam formed from cleaning compositions.
WO 2014/142651 discloses use of particulate cellulose material (for instance from sugar beet pulp) for keeping gas bubbles suspended in a fluid water-based composition. The cellulose particles have a volume-weighted median major dimension within the range of 25-75 μm, as measured by laser light diffractometry and should not be defibrillated. Similarly, WO 2014/017913 discloses a liquid detergent product comprising the same type of non-defibrillated particulate cellulose material.
WO 2012/52306 relates to externally structured aqueous liquid detergent compositions, in which non-defibrillated citrus fibre is used to suspend particulates. WO 2013/160024 and WO 2013/160022 relate to similar compositions in which the tendency of activated citrus fibre to form visible residues on the wall of a container is overcome by the addition of polyacrylates and water-swellable clay, respectively. WO 2014/82951 discloses a dentifrice comprising calcium carbonate particles and non-defibrillated citrus fibre to improve the cleaning efficacy of those particles.
US 2008/0108714 discloses surfactant-thickened systems comprising microfibrous cellulose (bacterial cellulose) to improve the suspending properties of the system. It particularly discloses the combination of bacterial cellulose, xanthan gum and carboxymethyl cellulose is such systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,812 relates to sanitisers and disinfectants. It discloses the combination of reticulated bacterial cellulose with cationic surfactant and a co-agent (such as cationic hydroxyethyl cellulose, pregelatinized cationic starch, conventional cationic starch, cationic guar gum, gum tragacanth and chitosan) to prepare acid-stable cellulose fibre dispersions, with reduced precipitation and flocculation of the cellulose fibres.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,349 discloses descaling formulations comprising between 0.05 and 1.5 wt-% of cellulose microfibrils having at least 80% of cells with primary walls, a pH of less than or equal to 2 and at least one detergent surfactant. The cellulose fibre is used to provide a pseudoplastic rheological profile, which is stable over time.
It is an object of the present invention to provide cleaning compositions that provide enhanced sensory properties to the consumer. Thus, it also is an object of the present invention to provide cleaning compositions providing enhanced foam stability, in particular without increasing the amount of detergent surfactants. Desirably, the enhanced foam stability is provided upon dilution of the cleaning composition when it is used. It is another object of the invention to provide such cleaning compositions that display enhanced foam stability, without negatively affecting other desirable properties of the composition, such as their detergent efficacy, their physical appearance and/or other sensory attributes. It is yet another object of the invention to provide cleaning compositions that have a reduced environmental impact, without affecting other desirable properties. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for preparing such cleaning compositions.